BEACHES CLOSED!!!

BEACHES CLOSED!!! B.A. Psychology Editor/Publisher Central Newspapers ACCOMPLISHED WRITER/AUTHOR OF OVER 800,000 Published Columns in Canada and The United States Is it just me... or has the world gone mad.  I remember the days of my youth. Living in Uruguay South America. Summer days would see extreme heat. You could almost smell the sun in the air. Going to the beach was the only way to keep cool... Back then air conditions were a luxury most could not afford. The only relief if not the beach was a good siesta on a cold tile floor. At times going to the beach could be frightening. They had the ‘RED’ flag signaling strong tide, winds, unpredicted waves and the odd time.... the Rio Negro that ran out of the River Plata and out to the Atlantic would swell due to heavy rains and flush all kinds of animals. Including snakes, gators and anything that swam... including piranha and yes the odd shark that would loose it’s way. Yes, when you would see the red flag.  You had to ask and make sure you stayed out of the water. Never in all my days going to the beach did I ever have to worry about pollution. Toxic waste, radio active waste and or industrial run offs. It appears that things are a lot different today here in Canada. Out of the series of beaches. Some stay open many stay closed. Closed due to the toxic composition in the water. From infectious algae. To pollutants. Now, my question is.... how are some beaches OK to swim in and others are not? Same water. Same lake. That scares me. Think about it for a moment. I rather be bitten by a swept up piranha or have a Python wrap around my neck than have to worry about infection from the same water that we drink and bathe from. Now don’t get me wrong. I am not paranoid or some freak that fears the water. No, I have a very real concern. We live surrounded by nuclear plants. The experts tell us we have nothing to worry about. That it i safe. That the level of radiation these plants release are minimal and have no affect on our health. Yet, most of these experts live outside the danger zones. The test they run on the water measures toxicity based on thresh holds and not on actual purity. Therefore at one site it may read ‘A’ and on another a few miles away ‘B’. One same is safe the other is not.... but what is to say that as soon as that test is done... that the tide does not change and it deems the clear site as now toxic. You can’t expect for these so called experts to continue running tests all day in and out. If it is not safe in Oshawa for example. How can it be safe in Clarington... It is just does not ad up if you ask me. Further more they do not test for purity but for thresh hold figures that are only markers for minimal public health concern. How can you feel safe swimming in such an environment? NO matter the number the water is still toxic. What is worst... That is the same water that is bleached with chlorine and piped up to your faucet, shower... Then flushed out from your toilet, hospital waste lines, industrial plants, commercial food processing cleansing and lets not forget the odd leak from any one of the nuclear plants. You can dive in and take your share of pollutants... Or you can sip them and eat them at home in the form of water and or thought your vegies.... Scary thought...